Dueling national conventions lead to comment exchanges, plans for future

The Associated Press

Published
2:07 pm EDT, Friday, July 29, 2016

In this photo combo of 2016 file photos, Melania Trump, left, speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, right, speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Beatty took the stage at the DNC on Thursday, July 28, in a dress that looked very similar to the one Trump wore during her remarks a week earlier at the RNC. less

In this photo combo of 2016 file photos, Melania Trump, left, speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, right, speaks at the Democratic National Convention in ... more

Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

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In this photo combo of 2016 file photos, Melania Trump, left, speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, right, speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Beatty took the stage at the DNC on Thursday, July 28, in a dress that looked very similar to the one Trump wore during her remarks a week earlier at the RNC. less

In this photo combo of 2016 file photos, Melania Trump, left, speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, right, speaks at the Democratic National Convention in ... more

Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Dueling national conventions lead to comment exchanges, plans for future

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WASHINGTON >> The latest on the 2016 presidential race after the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions (all times EDT):

1:33 p.m.

The Trump and Clinton campaigns are about to become neighbors in Washington.

Both campaigns open formal transition offices on Monday in the same Pennsylvania Avenue building close to the White House, where they’ll plan for victory on Election Day and the tangle of logistics that’ll mean for the incoming administration. The effort is funded by taxpayers as part of $13 million Congress appropriated for pre-election planning.

It’s a herculean task that will test the limits of Trump in particular, a political outsider who, thus far, has struggled to attract experienced talent to his presidential campaign. But Clinton’s campaign is preparing too for matching thousands of prospective appointees and staffers to thousands of government positions that will need to be filled.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said Friday that the campaign would evaluate its policy and added that events would be “available to the media, whether they’re fair or unfair.”

Pence’s remarks on the Hugh Hewitt radio show came days after a Washington Post reporter was searched and ejected from one of his events.

Trump had been a frequent critic of the media and has banned several outlets from covering his campaign events, including Buzzfeed, Politico, The Huffington Post and The Washington Post.

Pence, who touted his own record of being available to the media, considered launching a state-run news serviced. He ultimately scrapped the effort.

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10:45 a.m.

Donald Trump is vigorously tweeting the morning after Democrats finished their presidential nominating convention. His targets? A few choice people who criticized him from the stage at the Democratic National Convention.

The Republican presidential nominee referred to former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, also a billionaire, as “Little Michael Bloomberg,” who “never had the guts to run for president” and whose final term as mayor was “a disaster.”

That’s a reversal from 2012, when Trump praised Bloomberg for reducing crime in New York City, declaring, “That’s leadership.”

Trump attacked Gen. John Allen, saying he “failed badly in his fight against ISIS.” The former deputy commander of the wars in the Middle East had called Hillary Clinton the kind of “commander in chief America needs.”

As for Clinton’s claim that Trump can’t handle a political campaign, he noted that he defeated a field of Republican hopefuls to win the GOP nomination.

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10:30 a.m.

Donald Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, is offering condolences after a San Diego police officer was killed and another injured in an early morning shooting.

The Indiana governor and Republican vice presidential candidate said Friday that he has a “heavy heart.”

He’s calling on the country to offer thanks to “those who stand on the thin blue line of law enforcement” and he says this is a challenging time for the nation’s police.

Pence noted that an Indianapolis police officer was injured earlier this week in a shootout.